An Investigation of Ikhtiyar Ma,rifat-ual-Rijal

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Associate Professor

Abstract

Abu 'Amru Muhammad b. 'Umar b. 'Abdual- 'Aziz Kash,shi was a scholar and
a master in the fields of hadith and the science of recognizing the narrators of
hadith (Rijal). The exact dates or his birth and death are not known, but
evidence points to the beginning or the 4th century (AH). He developed his
expertise in Samarqand and Transoxiana.
Sheikh-e Tusi and Najjashi, his closest contemporaries, stated that he was
the author of a book on Rijal. Ibn Shahr Ashub, who lived a century later
than Sheikh-e Tusi, referred to Kashshi's book as Ma'rifatu al-Nagilin. An-e
al-A'immat-ual-sadiqin.
Others have referred to it as Akhbar-u al-rijal or
Ma'rifat-u al-Rijal.
The original work has not be preserved and what is available today as
Kashshi's Rijal is actually selections that Sheikl1 Tusi dictated to his students
in 456 (AH) at the behest of Sayyed b Tawus. The content of this book differs
from that of the original work. This article reviews Tusi's Ikhtiyar
Ma'rifaru al-Rijal
and compares it with Kashshi's original work on rijal.

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